


The Girl with the Dyed Tips

by deansehun



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Allison's highkey crushing on Renee and Dan is the number one Renison shipper, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, But I don't really get into it and I think it's mentioned just once, F/F, Mentions an abusive relationship, Short One Shot, Soft af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 18:43:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9002101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deansehun/pseuds/deansehun
Summary: Allison works at a small coffee shop downtown and she has a crush on one of their regulars - the girl with the dyed tips.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot is dedicated to Emma who believed in me when I wasn't sure how this would turn out. Merry christmas & happy holidays, Em! ♥
> 
> I hope the rest of you enjoy this as well. I still think I need to learn to write Renee and Allison better, but I do have a soft spot for this one shot. Enjoy!

The girl with the dyed tips was the highlight of Allison’s work week. She came in every friday just after lunch and stayed till late in the afternoon. She always ordered a strawberry tea with extra honey and a croissant then she would settle to her regular table by the window and she’d sit there for the whole time either on her laptop or reading a book.

At first Allison didn’t pay that much attention to the girl with dyed tips, because she was always with another girl whose hair was just plain boring brown, almost as boring as the girl herself. Of course Allison noticed how breathtaking the girl with dyed tips was, but she knew it was wrong to flirt with her in front of her girlfriend and she knew if she even tried to have a casual conversation with the girl she’d end up flirting even if that wasn’t her intention - that’s how beautiful the girl with the dyed tips was.

After a few weeks Allison overheard her best friend Dan and one of their coworkers discuss the relationship between plain boring brunette and dyed tips. Eventually curiosity won and Allison got involved in the conversation. Dan explained that they had noticed how unhappy the girl with the dyed tips looked around the plain boring brunette. That made Allison pay more attention to the couple and she noticed that when the girl with dyed tips tried to take her girlfriends hand, she’d pull away pretending she didn’t notice. They also seemed to fight quite a lot and for the last two weeks they were together. All of their quiet fights ended with the plain boring brunette storming out of the shop and leaving the girl with dyed tips to pay for their drinks.

Then the girl with the dyed tips stopped showing up. Allison didn’t admit it out loud but it truly made her sad. The girl with the pastel colors in her hair and a bright smile on her face always made her week seem like it was worth it. The thought of plain boring brunette ruining something as remarkable made Allison angry. How could she hurt something so extraordinary? It angered Allison that she never brought herself around to talk with the girl with dyed tips, because maybe if she had she’d be able to help her through this situation. She’d be able to check on her and see if she was okay.

It took two weeks for the girl with the dyed tips to show up again. Of course the world kept going on when she walked in, but it felt like time stopped. Allison almost dropped the tray of mugs and glasses she was holding when she saw the back of her head. Dan was taking her order clearly amazed the girl showed up again, they all thought she’d never come back. Dan’s gaze met Allison’s while the girl with dyed tips was picking out a croissant. It was only a few seconds of eye contact, but that was all Dan needed as confirmation. Somehow she had guessed weeks before that Allison had a little crush on one of their customers and this moment right here proved all the suspicions right.

The girl with dyed tips picked her croissant and asked Dan to deliver the tea to the table when it was done. She headed for her table and Allison made her way to the other side of the counter. The coffee shop was low on space and they always had at least three people on shift at the same time so it got really crowded behind the counter and they had to constantly slide out of each other way. Dan moved as Allison came through with a tray full of dishes, but when Allison returned from the kitchen and was about to go clean some tables the story was different.

“Could you move your fine bottom out of my way?” Allison asked with a humorous smirk.  
“No”, Dan replied with a simple shrug.  
“Come on, Dan. Just like babies, the tables aren’t going to wipe themselves”, Allison pointed out.  
“Fair point”, Dan admitted “But you’re not going to wipe the tables because you’re busy with something else”, she informed her. Allison didn’t have the chance to ask what she meant when she exchanged the cleaning supplies for a cup of tea. Allison looked at the tea and then she looked at smiling Dan. Tea and then Dan again. She opened her mouth to protest, but Dan wasn’t taking any of it.  
“You’re going to go out there, give the girl her order and ask for her number”, Dan advised and when Allison shook her head Dan gave her a confident nod. She had made up her mind and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.  
“Guess I have no choice”, Allison sighed. She didn’t stay behind the counter any longer to hear Dan’s muffled squeals of happiness.

“Strawberry tea with extra honey?” she asked when she got to her table, as if she didn’t already know her order by heart. The girl with the dyed tips looked up from her book and flashed Allison a friendly smile she’d seen many times before. The girl was always very nice to all of the staff, even the really shitty coworkers. She’d reply to their sarcastic comments with witty comebacks and a smile that made the rest of the staff snicker a little.  
“That’s what they call me”, she made a joke that wasn’t a really good one, but Allison still laughed. Maybe it was because this girl made her nervous, specially now that she realized this was their first conversation and if they ever had a relationship they would look back at their first conversation and it would be this. The next thing Allison would say might define the whole future of that said relationship.  
“Where’s your partner in crime?” She asked before thinking it through. She had just noticed the silence got awkward and that was apparently the first thing that popped into her head. Who the hell asks someone clearly going through a breakup, where their girlfriend is?

The girl with dyed tips remained silent for a little while. Her small hands were wrapped around the baby blue tea mug probably because it was warm and it’s cold outside this time of the year and her hands must’ve been freezing - unless she had gloves.  
“We, uh- Well, she’s no longer my partner in crime”, she looked up at Allison giving her yet another polite smile, this time there was some sort of sadness hidden behind it that Allison understood very well. She’d been through breakups before.  
“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to put my nose where it doesn’t belong”, Allison said with a more professional matter because she felt as if she had been too curious too soon and insulted her or maybe brought up some ugly memories.  
“It’s fine, you’re not the first one to ask. I’m surprised your friend behind the counter didn’t ask about Lana, she’s been with me here ever since I discovered this place”, the girl with the dyed tips tried to laugh it off and Allison wished she could just hug her and tell her it’ll be ok.  
“What happened?” She asked instead, yet again before even processing the thought through.  
“That’s a pretty good question, I’m still not sure myself. I guess- I don’t know, I wasn’t enough? She never gave me a reason or a direct warning, but I knew weeks before she dumped me that she wasn’t interested anymore”, she replied. She was now looking down at her tea mug again, more melancholic than Allison could bare to see.  
“Well she’s can’t be very smart to leave your like that, or to leave you at all. Honestly, I think maybe she did you a favor because now you’ll get to find someone who you actually deserve. Except that might be a little difficult, because you’re clearly a sweet girl who deserves nothing but the best”, Allison lost full control of her mouth at this point. Her mind was telling her to stop, apologize and walk away to continue her job. Her heart was the one who did all the talking though and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it except go with the flow and not to have a single regret.

There was a long silence between the two. Nobody sat at the tables around them, but Allison was sure that if someone did sit close to them they'd be silent and staring too. The girl with the dyed tips was the only person Allison cared about in this moment though. Doesn’t matter if the president of the United States would walk in and declare a food war between the customers and the staff, Allison would only care about the opinion of the girl with the dyed tips. 

“Thank you.”, she said “I’m Renee, by the way. Renee Walker”, the girl replied after a good two minutes of sitting there observing Allison with curiosity in her look. Allison didn’t know if it was curiosity or was she wondering if she should make a run for the door.  
“Oh, uh.. I’m Allison”, her reply was lost under Renee saying her name at the exact same time. That got Allison completely off guard until she realized she has a name tag on her left boob, of course a smart girl like her would notice that.  
“Allison”, Renee tested the name out loud again and smiled a little. “It’s a nice name”  
“Thanks”, Allison replied. Her reply was actually just an unclear mumble, she was too mesmerized to speak properly. She could’ve stood there all day staring at Renee Walker, trying to find out her secret and learn to read her like a book but unfortunately she had work to do so she decided to jump right into it.  
“Listen I was wondering if you wanted to go get a coffee sometime?” she found her bravery somewhere and just jumped straight to the question she’d been meaning to ask in the first place. Renee’s face lit up and that brought hope for Allison. She was already trying to figure out a place where they could go have some coffee and get to know each other.  
“No”, Renee replied with such a kind smile it took Allison a good ten seconds to actually understand she had declined the offer. The reality finally hit her and her face turned red immediately. She was washed by a wave of embarrassment and anger towards herself, why couldn’t she just ask for the number? Or better yet, just give her the tea and leave. Obviously the girl was still heartbroken because of her breakup and Allison thought it was a good idea to ask her out? After exchanging like two sentences with her.  
“Oh, uh- Ok, I’m sorry I- Uh- Just.. Enjoy your tea”, Allison didn’t stay there long enough to hear if she replied something. She turned around and walked back behind the counter faster than ever.

She spent the rest of the night in the kitchen. She refused to come out even though it wasn’t her kitchen duty. She’d much rather spend the rest of her night washing dishes and doing all the nasty stuff than see Renee’s pretty face again. From now on she’d do her best at cancelling all her friday shifts at least for like a month. If it was up to her she’d be sucked in by the earth so she’d never have to remember that embarrassing moment again.

Eventually Renee left for the night. She gave a great tip as usual and complimented Dan on her tea making skills. An hour later Dan and the other coworker left too, it was the general rule of the coffee shop. After six it got so quiet the store didn’t need more than one employee to take care of the last two customers before closing up for the night and usually the one who stayed was the one who’s been doing most of the work behind the counter. Even though Allison worked in the kitchen until Renee left it was still her duty to wait for another hour before closing up the place.

She was done with cleaning up and closing the place down in about half an hour and she was ready to head out. She shut down the lights, checked the locks on the kitchen door and the safe. The weather outside was cold, but yet moist. There was fog up and down the dimly lit street and Allison knew that’d fuck up her hair so she tried to lock the shop’s door as fast as possible, get to her car and drive home. She was struggling to find the right key and didn’t realize there was a person standing behind her.

“I don’t like coffee”, Renee said after waiting for a little while if Allison noticed her. She nearly dropped her keys and had a heart attack, but it worked. She turned around to see Renee standing there with hands stuffed into the pockets of her black coat.  
“What?” Allison had no idea what she meant. Of course she understood what she meant in general, but she didn’t understand what it had to do with anything.  
“That’s why I said no, because I don’t like coffee”, Renee explained stepping a little closer. There was still a pretty good distance between them.  
“I was going to say I’d love to go out for a tea sometime, but you didn’t let me finish”, Renee smiled. Honestly Allison couldn’t help but smile a little bit too, because she’d been stressing about this for the past four hours or more and turns out it was just a misunderstanding.  
“That’s kind of my problem”, Allison admitted “I’m either too eager to talk myself or not interested enough to hear what the other person has to say”  
“Which one was it this time?”  
“I was scared”, Allison’s voice turned soft, almost vulnerable. Renee seemed curious again.  
“Scared? Why?” She asked.  
“Because a pretty girl has never told me no before”, Allison told her. She looked at the ground for a few seconds before facing Renee who was smiling again.  
“Well there’s a first time for everything, because a pretty girl has never asked me out before”, Renee admitted.  
“You’re lying, I don’t believe it”, Allison replied immediately. She couldn’t believe no one has ever asked someone as gorgeous as Renee out before, but instead of admitting she was lying Renee just shook her head and laughed.  
“Nope, I’m completely honest”, she giggled. Allison laughed and she laughed. They spent a few seconds just laughing at something, probably just their way of relaxing after stressing over this conversation. Allison looked down at her keys she was playing with and Renee fixed her posture, not knowing how this conversation would continue.  
“If the offer still stands I can make a pretty mean strawberry tea too”, Allison looked up at Renee and held out a hand for her. First Renee looked at Allison for a long time, analyzing her face and paying attention to the small details she could see in the dim streetlight. Then she looked at the hand she was holding out.

For Allison it was just a hand held out, but for Renee it meant so much more. It mean a fresh page, a new chapter. It meant finally being able to let go of her past. Let go of her abusive relationship and move on to maybe have a lot healthier relationship. It meant she’d be free and cared of for the first time in her life. It meant so much more than just a tea with an interesting girl and that’s why it took her a little while to take it. She wasn’t hesitating, she was just wondering what she did right in life to have an opportunity like this open for her when she least expected it, but needed it the most.

She took her hand full of confidence and together they went back inside. Allison made Renee tea that was apparently better than the tea Dan makes. She made herself some coffee and shared a leftover blueberry muffin with Renee that she planned to take home with her as a snack for her nightly Netflix session. And they talked. They talked about their best childhood memories, they shared stupid secrets that nobody else knew, they shared experiences of previous work places and relationships. They talked about their education and time at school, they even found out they share the same interests when it came to school. In general they seemed to be pretty different people, but still there was something about them that just clicked and felt right. Both of them realized it, if not that night then maybe during one of their future dates.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all liked it and if you did feel free to leave a comment!
> 
> p.s. All you brunettes out there, I don't think your hair is boring or plain. It was just something I used to describe the character ♥


End file.
